Flex: Smart Strategies to Build A Successful Career Around Your Life

FLEX

Smart Strategies to Build a Successful Career Around Your Life

ELIZABETH WILLETTS

This edition first published 2025

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ISBN 9781394267798 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781394267835 (ePub)

ISBN 9781394267842 (ePDF)

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For my daughters, Emily and Annabelle – everything

is for you! I hope I’ve shown you that anything

is possible. Keep reaching for the stars!

Foreword

In the final stretch of my therapy sessions, the focus shifted to preparing me for my return to work.

Seventeen months had passed since I took maternity leave at the height of my career to welcome my son into the world. Six months after my initial attempt to return to my role – a job at which I excelled – I found myself reduced to a mere shadow of my former self due to my organization’s refusal to embrace flexible working arrangements.

It took a monumental battle, union intervention, a grievance, countless tears, and the support of my husband before I felt strong enough to go back. But when I did, I kept my promises and delivered results beyond expectations. I demonstrated that motherhood hadn’t diminished my capabilities; if anything, it had enhanced them. I proved that reduced hours didn’t equate to reduced ability and that I could deliver exceptional results in my senior leadership role.

But if I’m honest, I had mentally checked out.

I decided I deserved more than to be underestimated, doubted, and made to feel inadequate for wanting both a career and to be a mum. So, I redirected my energy towards retraining as a coach and mentor for women, helping them advance their careers and secure the salaries, success, and recognition they deserved.

This is when I met the mighty Elizabeth Willetts.

I first noticed Liz on LinkedIn. I was instantly drawn to her warmth, friendliness, and fierce passion for elevating women in the workforce. I detected a familiar Yorkshire accent (albeit a slightly posher one than mine!) and knew I had to reach out. We connected immediately and, after months of supporting and championing each other’s work on the platform, began collaborating on various projects. The rest, as they say, is history.

Liz is an absolute powerhouse.

She is unwavering in her commitment to investing in you as a woman and helping you succeed in your career. Her extensive qualifications and experience uniquely position her to help you secure a well-paid, rewarding job that offers the flexibility you need and deserve.

Liz tirelessly partners with forward-thinking, family-friendly organizations that recognize the value of flexible working. She’s not just a champion for gender equality; she’s a force for change, working directly with companies to help them recruit and retain exceptional female talent – like you.

But here’s the most important reason you should read this book: Liz gets it.

She knows firsthand how challenging it can be to secure a part-time role without taking a step down or accepting a significant pay cut – because she’s been there herself. Liz, being Liz, decided that something needed to change and took matters into her own hands.

Fast forward five years, and Liz IS the change.

She’s founded Investing in Women, a recruitment company and jobs board specifically for women, bridging the gap between talented women and progressive companies. She’s making a significant impact on the UK’s gender pay gap and has helped thousands of women find flexible part-time work they love.

In addition, Liz has built a community of over 60,000 like-minded women, paving the way for a brighter professional future for women everywhere, one hire at a time.

I told you she was a powerhouse!

I can’t wait for her daughters, Emily and Annabelle, to grow up and realise how much their mum has done for them and for working women everywhere.

And I can’t wait for you to get stuck into this book!

Liz has crammed over 18 years of recruitment experience into this masterpiece, covering everything you need – from figuring out your next career move to making an impact when you land that dream job, and everything in between. She’s also brought in professional insights from her vast network of industry experts to fast-track your progress and skyrocket your results.

This is the book I needed all those years ago when I went on maternity leave, and it’s the one you need today.

So, dive in, dig deep, and discover everything you need to know to keep your career on track when life gets in the way.

I’m so excited for you.

Leanne Cooper

Founder, You First Coaching Ltd

July 2024

Acknowledgements

Wow – where to start? First of all, I would like to say a huge thank you to the publishing and editing team at Wiley for all their help and support. This is my first (but hopefully not my last) book, and the team has always been on hand to answer any questions I may have. Big thanks to Tom Dinse, Alice Hadaway, Stacey Rivera, and Gemma Valler, who believed in the book’s vision before I’d even written a word!

Of course, I have to say a HUGE thank you to Up the Gains’ Sammie Ellard-King, who very kindly invited me to guest speak on his podcast, The Money Gains. By chance, a member of the editing team at Wiley listened to it, leading to this book!

This book would not be here without the incredibly rich conversations I’ve had with countless guests on my Work It Like A Mum podcast and LinkedIn Lives. A big thank you to all those who allowed their stories and advice to be featured in this book, including Leanne Cooper, Roz Hobley, Lizzie Martin, Rosie Reynolds, Sarah McMath, Jen Smollett, Rachel Exton, Jodie Mason, Tiggy Atkinson, Charlotte Ralph, Donna Patterson, Nicola Lee, Ali Fanshawe, Christa Davies, Leigh Welsh, Rebecca Newenham, Tom Stenner-Evans, Laurie Macpherson, Laura Walker, Chloe Fletcher, Amanda Henderson, and Rose-Marie Fox. The book is all the more valuable and relatable because of your contributions.

To Adele McNicholl for literally keeping the Investing in Women show on the road, allowing me time to write this book. Thank you so much for all the candidate sourcing, interviewing, sharing jobs and account management. You are so much more than a colleague! Thank you!

Thank you so much to my lovely mum, Ann, who has provided us with countless hours of unpaid babysitting since launching my business and writing this book. She’s always there if I need her – and does an amazing job looking after not just my children but also me! Thank you!

To my husband, Henry, who has supported Investing in Women from the very beginning. He gave me the confidence to give it a go, understood when I had to work late, and is always on hand for business advice. He is the best friend and father for our children I could wish for. I love doing life with you! Finally, this book is for my daughters, Emily and Annabelle. It was only when I became a mum that I realised how difficult it is to juggle work and family and how workplaces are not set up for those with caring responsibilities who may want to work flexibly. Ever since, I’ve been on a mission to educate employers about the benefits flexible working can bring. But I’m also determined to show my daughters that no matter what others say, our careers don’t have to stop after children. In fact, it is often the start of a brand-new, magical chapter.

Introduction

‘It doesn’t look good.’ I can feel the doctor moving the cold, hard probe around inside me. He’s trying to get a better look.

I stare up at the plain, white ceiling.

My heart’s beating so loudly that I’m surprised no one else has mentioned that they can hear the ‘thud, thud, thud’ pounding from my chest.

I pray to a God I don’t believe in that I misheard the words. I wish with every fibre of my being for him to take those words back – words that have shattered what feels like my reason for living.

I continue to lay in silence, clutching my husband’s hand so hard my knuckles turn white.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the doctor says the words I’ve been dreading to hear – ‘I can’t find a heartbeat.’

Say hello and welcome to your new career bestie as this book aims to have your back, no matter what life throws at you. In it, you’ll find a mix of my own job searching and career advice – gained from 18 years in the recruitment business, tales from the recruitment front line, plus inspiring real-life case studies from people who have navigated life’s unexpected twists and turns – and STILL managed to thrive in their careers. But this book isn’t just about sharing stories (no matter how inspirational): it’s about giving you the tools and confidence to navigate your own career path, whether you want to climb that ladder, need to take a step back, or pivot entirely. Inside, you’ll find practical steps to dust off your CV, nail that interview, and balance a job you love with a busy life you love even more! Ready to get started? Let’s dive in and build that dream career of yours, step by step. I’m with you every step of the way!

* * *

I’d never been overly career-ambitious, but I enjoyed working and the satisfaction that came with doing a good job. I was also good at my job and thrived in the fast-paced world of recruitment. I became one of the top performers in the City of London branch of one of the world’s largest recruitment agencies. Here, I recruited accountants for some of the world’s largest banks. I quickly rose through the ranks and, by the age of 24, was managing a team.

But the hours were long and the work demanding. Having been brought up by a traditional stay-at-home mum, I couldn’t see how such a demanding job would work when I became a mum. And becoming a mum was ultimately what I wanted to be. When I got married a couple of years later, I checked out of my career before we even started trying for children! Silly right?!? I didn’t realise it would take four and a half years of trying, a miscarriage and eventually IVF to realise my dream of parenthood. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, eh?

So I left my recruitment career without a backward glance (or so I thought) and set myself up as a beauty therapist and personal stylist through Colour Me Beautiful, working from home, a set-up I thought would work perfectly around my, at this point, make-believe family.

But after one and a half years of nada – not even the faintest line on a pregnancy test, and painful ‘Are you planning to have children’ questions from well-meaning clients, I went scurrying back to my old job with my tail firmly between my legs. It felt like I was back where I started, but in my absence, my juniors had been promoted ahead of me, and my best clients distributed to my colleagues. I really was starting again right at the bottom.

And my heart just wasn’t in it anymore. I felt cheated being back – this wasn’t the life I’d dreamed of. I no longer had the passion or felt the same connection to my clients or candidates. It was just a job that paid the bills. For a year and a half, I just trod water. Got up, went to work, came home, ate, watched tv, bed, repeat.

But then the miscarriage happened, my boss got pregnant, and watching her growing belly became increasingly painful. I knew now was the time to move on. Because children may or may not have happened for me, but work, work was there. It took up 90% of my waking hours, so I needed to enjoy it, right?

And, after what felt like countless interviews, I was finally offered my dream job as an in-house recruiter at one of the Big 4 accounting firms, and that’s when things finally started to look up for me.

Joining such a corporate firm, which seemed to really value its staff, was a breath of fresh air. They even had an onsite gym and WFH (work from home), before anyone else knew what those three little letters stood for! And I spent a year or so healing – making friends, looking after my health, and getting good at my job. I met my stakeholders, earned their trust, and delivered excellent service. Once more, I took pride in my work, and although we were still ‘trying for a baby’, it didn’t feel quite as desperate as it had when I thought a baby would be a ‘get out of jail free card’ from a job I hated.

Once I felt strong enough, we decided to try IVF and could not believe our luck when, on the second round, it worked. Nine months later, our daughter was born, and then – even more extraordinary – we got pregnant naturally a few months later.

So there I was, with two small kids, about to go back to work, when boom, a pandemic hit! Yep, I don’t think any of us saw that coming! And, like many others, I found my job on the chopping block and was made redundant.

And that was that – my career was over – or so it felt. I’d listen to my husband on work calls with other adults. Work calls I wouldn’t have thought twice about, but they suddenly sounded so glamorous and stimulating when I was up to my elbows in Play-Doh!

And with my eldest about to start pre-school, I knew I wanted to get back to work – working with other adults and feeling the thrill of recruitment again. But could I find another job that offered me the flexibility I wanted with two small children? Could I heck!

I’d chat with my friends who were dropping out of the workforce like flies, leaving well-paid careers having spent their 20s climbing the ladder to take something lower paid and lower skilled in exchange for the flexibility they wanted/desired.

I looked back on my recruitment career and realised that of the hundreds of people I’d placed, I’d never hired anyone into a part-time role. I’d been part of the problem! So I vowed to use my small redundancy payout of £5,000 to help people like me – and my friends. Those who enjoyed work, were diligent employees, and wanted to contribute to society and business but just needed something more flexible to fit around their lives – but didn’t want to be punished with low-paid or low-skilled work because they also had other commitments.

So, I spent several months planning and writing business plans (that I’ve not looked at since) before founding Investing in Women – now a multi-award-winning job board and recruitment agency that helps forward-thinking organisations find talent looking for flexible and part-time work. Through our jobs board and free resources, we’ve helped thousands of people find flexible work that works around them and their lives.

In addition to offering our recruitment services, we host weekly Facebook and LinkedIn Lives with guest experts to help empower people to take control of their careers. Previous topics covered have included ‘How to successfully return to work after maternity leave’, ‘Writing a CV recruiters will love’, ‘I hate my job – what should I do?’, and ‘Interview skills hiring managers are looking for right now’, as well as several Lives with employment solicitors centred around discrimination at work and your rights to flexible working.

As well as our LinkedIn Lives, I host a weekly podcast called Work It Like A Mum, where I’ve interviewed some phenomenal women who have overcome various challenges, including cancer, raising four children under five!, baby loss, imposter syndrome, a lack of confidence and lengthy career